Presenting slides in events

Use Slides to present synchronised slide content directly inside the Heropa workspace. Slides is part of Follow Host and Integrated Comms, allowing hosts to deliver structured presentations without leaving the event environment. Students can follow along in real time, or review slides independently.

Prerequisites

• You must be a Heropa administrator or event host to configure Slides for an event. 
• Slides must be enabled for your tenant. Contact Heropa Support if you do not see this option. 
• Slide files must be in PDF format and no larger than 20MB. 
• An existing event created in Heropa.

Adding a slide deck to an event

1. Open your event and go to the Configuration tab. 
2. Locate the Slides section. 
3. Select an existing slide deck from the dropdown or click Add to upload a new deck. 
4. When adding a new deck: 
   • Enter a Name. 
   • Upload a PDF file. 
   • Click Import. 
5. Wait for the import to complete. The system converts each PDF page into an optimised image for fast viewing. 
6. Add presenter notes by selecting each slide and typing into the Presenter notes field. Notes appear only to the host during the presentation. 
7. Click Save to complete the slide deck setup. 
8. Save the event.

Note:

Imported slide decks cannot be edited. To make changes, re-import the PDF under a new name (for example, v2) and select it in the event.

Presenting slides during an event

1. Start the event as a host and open your Host screen. 
2. Click Slides from the top navigation to begin presenting. 
   • Slides are visible to students only when you are actively presenting. 
3. Students will see a Host screen button appear in their workspace. When they click it, they view your shared screen or slides. 
   • Suggested screenshot: Student workspace showing Host screen button. 
4. Navigate through slides using the controls in the side panel: 
   • Slide thumbnails 
   • Presenter notes 
   • Next slide preview (shown at the bottom of the side panel) 
   • Timer to track presentation duration 
5. Move to another section or back to your VM at any time; students will follow your view when Follow Host or Force Follow Host is enabled.

Managing student synchronisation

Default behaviour

• When the host presents slides, students viewing the Host screen see the same slide as the host. 
• When the host stops presenting, students are automatically returned to their VM.

Without Force Follow Host

• Students can move freely between their VM and the Host screen. 
• In the slide viewer, students can browse slides independently. 
• To synchronise manually, students click the padlock icon below the slide and above the slide number dropdown. When locked, their view stays aligned with the host as slides change.

With Force Follow Host

• Students are locked into the host’s slide position. 
• Navigation controls are disabled. 
• Switching back to their VM is not allowed until Force Follow Host is turned off.

Student experience

• Slides appear inside the Host screen viewer. 
• There is no separate slide viewer panel. 
• Fullscreen mode is not supported for either hosts or students. 
• Students cannot open Slides unless the host is actively presenting. 
• When the host stops presenting, the slide view closes automatically and the student returns to their VM.

Reusing slide decks

• Slide decks created through the Event Configuration tab can be selected and reused across other events. 
• Currently, slide decks cannot be deleted.

Notes and tips

Tip: Use presenter notes to remind yourself of extra talking points or actions that are not visible in the slides.

Tip: Name slide decks clearly (e.g., “Workshop Intro – v2”) to make updates easier to manage.

Note: PDFs are converted into optimised images to ensure fast loading, even on lower-bandwidth connections.

Note: Slides is behind a feature toggle. Contact Heropa Support if it is not enabled for your account.